Manufacture of link mesh



Mhy 8, 192 8.

' 1,668,739 0. SODERSTROM MANUFACTURE OF LINK MESH Filed June 24, 1924 Patented May 8, 1928.

- UNITED STATES I 1,668,739 PATENT OFFICE,

oscnal sonnns'rnou, 02- NORTH A'r'rmnono, mssacnnsmrs, swim TO warrme & DAVIS COMPANY, A CORPORATION or massaonusnr'rs.

MANUFACTURE or Linn mesa.

Application filed June 24,

This invention relatesto the art of makingl-ink mesh fahric consisting of a plurality of links or rings, each of which is intermeshed with aplurality of other links.

5 More specifically, theinvention relates to the production of pieces of link mesh of predetermined shape which are used in various commercial articles, such as ladies hand bags, and the like. This invention includes a piece of mesh of indefinite shape and outline in which pieces of a predetermined shape are so outlined that they may be easily removed'therefrom, and further eomprehends a method of producing such a piece of mesh.

In the production of link mesh as carried on at the present time, machines are used which automatically insert links in the fabric, each link being formed of a length of wirehent to ring form. These machines produce the mesh either in the form of a flat web or strip, or else in the form of a cylindrical sleeve which, upon removal fronr the machine, is cut lengthwise to form a strip, In the utilization of these strips of mesh for the productionof hand bags and other similar articles, pieces of appropriate form must be cut from the main strip of mesh and this-has been done up to the present in two ways, either manually or by In the manual operation the machine. workman places the strip of mesh on a table before him and then severs orspreads the links lying along the outline of the piece which is to "he produced. Indetermining the links which are to be acted upon, he re tens to a pattern and locates the links which are to be severed or spread by counting along the rows of "links from one edge of the strip. V-Vhen all of the links lying along the outline of the piece of the desired shape have been spread or severed, these links will drop or may be shaken out of the fabric so as to free the piece which is enclosed by them, and these pieces are then used for the commercial products. In producing such pieces by machine, the strip of mesh is fed past a plurality of severing or spreading devices, of which there is one for each link across the strip of the mesh, and these devicesare controlledhy a pattern mechanism. The strip and the devices have a relative ste by step movement, and at each pause in e movement certain of the de 5 vices are rendered efiective to act upon the links. of producing such pieces are comparatively slow, and thevadd (.onsiderably to the cost "1924. Serial No. 722,182.

of the manufacture oi. the finished article. The manual operationis particularly laborious and tedious, and the workman may make mistakes in counting, which would result in loss by reasonnf the wrong link being severed; V

The present invention is intended to provide for the production of pieces of mesh such as are used. tonnnercially, by outlining these pieces in the main strip ofmesh as it is made by inserting in the strip of mesh at the appropriate points, links which differ in certain respect-s from those employed in the remaining portions of the mesh. These outlining links may be made of wire which differs in appearance from the remaining links of the mesh, as for instance, an enamelled wire of some particular color may be en'lployed for the purpose, and. when the strip is removed from the machine these outlining links may readily be distinguished from the other links of the mesh so that the manual operation of cutting is greatly simplified, since the counting of the links in the rows is eliminated. Instead of making these links oi. a wire dill'erent in surface a pearance, it is possible also to outline e pieces by means of; links which dilfer in of which the remainder of the stripis made. For instance, these outlining links may be made of wire of a comparatively soft metal so that the links ma readily be spread apart. Then, when t e strip 1 is removed the operator will spread few ofthese links by hand and then, by pulling on the strip which is to be severed, can spread the remaining links in the outline, thus actually tearing the pieces from the main strip of mesh. By using for the outlining links wire diflerent either in appearanceor in mechanical properties from the wire of which the other links in the strip are made, the separa- .mined order of succession.

moved from the main strip without danger of severing the wrong links.

A strip of mesh having pieces of desired final form outlined in it by such readily removable links, may be made on any type of sunset mesh machine, such as are now in common use, provided such a machine is arranged so that the wire used in each link in the strip of mesh is under automatic control: Sunset mesh machines diifer from ordinary mesh machines in that a plurality of different supplies of wire are provided and wire from any supply may be fed to the link-forming toolseunder the control of an automatic pattern mechanism b which the feeding of the wire from the di ferent supplies takes place in a predeter- These machines ordinarily include a pattern member of some .form, as, for instance, a perforated music roll, and this pattern sheet has effective areas on it which are brought into action .to control the wire-feeding devices, of which there is one associated with each supply of wire.

desired (pattern, however elaborate, may be produce by properly forming the pattern sheet. is to be used in the production of pieces of mesh in accordance with the present invention, and as an example of this type of ma- I chine reference may be made to the machine illustrated in the co-pending application of Fred Sweeting, Ser. No. 722,708, filed June 27, 1924. Y

The machine as illustrated in that application produces sunset mesh in the form of a cylindrical sleeve and is provided with two sets of link-forming tools by which links are added at diametrical points on the sleeve. These tools add links in successive rows so that upon each complete rotation of the sleeve past the tools two rows of links are added at the edge of the sleeve. For each set of tools there are three supplies of wire and the machine is provided with apattern control mechanism so arranged link. This that wire from any selected supply may be fed to the tools for the production of each machine, therefore, of the highest possible degree of control.

7, In employing such a machine for the production of a strip of mesh in accordance In some of these machines the unit of control is a row or a part of a row of links It is this latter type of machine which with the present invention, the wires from one of these supplies will be used for the links which are to outline the pieces used for the commerci'alarticles. This wire may have a different surface appearance from that in the remaining supplies, as, for instance, it may be an enamelled wire of a color easily distinguished from th color of the other wires, or it may be a wire of different mechanical properties, preferably one which is quite soft so that the links formed from it may be easily opened up. It is to be understood, of course, that these outlining links only serve the purpose of con-,

necting or uniting the pieces which are used for commercial purposes, and consequently the wire of which these connecting links are formed may be selected only with a view to its ready removability; it would be altogether possible to arrange the pattern sheet so asto cause it to prevent the link-forming tools from inserting links along the outline cfthe pieces of the redetermined shape, but this would serious y interfere with the operation of the machine since it would be impossible to move the strip of mesh through the machine if the strip were to be severed completely across, and in any event, the links on either side of the points where a link had been omitted would not lie in the proper position so that other links could be inserted through them. Outlining links must consequently be used in order that the operation of the machine may (1011-.

tinu in. the normal way, but, as efore stated, these outlining links are eventually removed from the mesh and are made of a wire which is selected with that point in mind.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the strip of mesh produced on a machine, showing a piece such as is used for commercial purposes outlined in the strip by readily removable links,

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are enlarged views of a piece of wire as used in the formation of a single link showing it in the different stages through which it passes under the action of the link-forming tools, and

Fig. 5 is a view of a piece of mesh such as is used commercially for the manufacture of a hand bag. 7

The strip of mesh illustrated in Fig. 1 has the form of a flat web and such a strip may be made on the machines either in the form shown, or else in the form of a cylindrical sleeve which is slit lengthwise and then opened out to web form. permits From this strip of mesh smaller pieces 7, as shown in Fig. 5, are to be cut for the production of. commercial articles. The piece shown in Fig. 5 is one such as is used in a Pill 10 until he reaches the point 11." He must, then sever links inthe inclined row 18 1111-.

til he reaches the edge of the strip at 13 and this severing of the links inthe inclined row is a diflicult and tedious operationsince the operator must count the links accurately to determine wh ch ones to cut. 'llnsoperatwn of-counting and severing is carried on around the outline of the piece and unless it is performed accurately the. piece may be i1nperfeet" because the Wrong links have been removed. \Vhenthe operation is carried on by machine, the whole piece of mesh is fed through the machine and the tools which act on the links are brought into action at each successive row, the pattern mechanism causing the appropriate tools to act on the proper links in the several rows. This operation of pattern-cutting by themachine is also slow, but is considerably faster and more-accurate than the hand method.

In accordance with theprinciples of the present invention, however, themachine on which the strip of mesh 6 isproduced is so arranged 'thatthe tools operate to insert links along the outline of the )iece 7 which are made from wire differing rom the wire used in the other links in the strip. These outlining links may be made, for instance, of a wire having a different color-,and the operation of inserting them is quite simple since it is only necessary to form the pat tern sheet so that at the appropriate points the wire'feeding. devices for the supply of this different kind of wire will come into action and feed wire to the tools. The mesh making operation for the product-ion of the of the pieces bymeans of a pair of scissors and since these outlining links are readily distinguishable from the other links in the piece, there is no. difficulty in cutting along the outline. Instead of outlining the pieces for the commercial products by links having a different surface appearance from the other links of the fabric, it is also possible to make these outlining links of wire which differs in its mechanical properties from the wire used in the other links. It is preferable, for this purpose, to make use of a soft wire so that when the strip of mesh is removed from the machine the Workman may tear the pieces from the strip by a manual operation and without the necessityv of cuttting each of these links with scissors.

As another alternative, it is pomibleto make the strip of mesh mainly of links of a wire having a solder core, such, for instance, as shown in Fig; 2, in which the core is shown at '15. The piece of wire 16 is of a length such asis severed from the supply by the link-forming toolsin the link-making operation, and this length, shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is first bent to the staple form and then after the legs of the staple have been inserted through a pair: of links are bent together so that they abut, as shown in Fig. 4, thus completing "the ring: Links of this solder-core wire are used throughout the fabric, being successively added in the usual. way to produce a piece of mesh, apportion of which is-illustrated at 14. The outlining links, however, are then made of wire which does not have the-solder core, and to outline a piece such as shown in Fig. 5, links of this plain wire are inserted, as at 17, then along the lines 1.8, 19, 20,21, and 22. All of the links except those which lie in the outline of the piece are of the solder-core material, and the ends of thecore in the ends of t'he links lie in abutment, as at 23. So-called soldered mesh to be produced by. this process, and the strip made mainly of solder-core links but having portions of a predetermined shape outlined by links of plain wire, is then subjected to a heating operation, such that the solder core softens and "unites the ends of the links.

Thus all of the links of the strip except those which outline the pieces to be removed therefrom, are of soldered or continuous links, while the outlining links are not soldered but are discontinuous. Upon the removal ofthc piece of mesh from the heating chamber, the discontinuous links may be spread apart by subjecting the meshto a sufficient strain to cause these links to open up. The force which is necessary is by no means suflicient to open up the soldered links, and consequently, as before, the pieces for the commercial products may readily be freed from the main strip.

The present invention, therefore, provides a simple and effective method of producing piecesof mesh of a predetermined shape which is much less expensive than the manual and machine operations of pattern-cutting, as before described. The strip of mesh as it comes from the machine has pieces of the predetermined shape bounded by links which are readily removable and these links may be made of any kind of material desired, so long as it is different either in appearance or in mechanical properties from the remaining links ofthe fabric. These boundary links sim ly unite the pieces of the predetermined s ape into a continuous at the edge of the mesh the ends of the staple strip and once a strip of a convenient length has been completed and removed from the machine, these outlining links are to be removed so as to separate the pieces of selected shape. The outlining links consequently perform no functions exceptto connect the pieces to facilitate their production by machine and to provide a convenient means of removing the pieces from the strip which eliminates the expensive operations previously used. For these reasons, the outlining links may be made of any kind of wire differing in certain characteristics from the wire of which the other links of the strip are formed.

I claim:

1. A strip of link mesh fabric composed principally of pieces of mesh having a prcdetermined shape such that the pieces are adapted for separate use for commercial purposes, these pieces being outlined in the mesh by links of a composition ditl'erent from that of which the links in the pieces are made, the links connecting the pieces to each other and to the remainder of the mesh.

2. A strip of link mesh fabric composed principally of pieces of mesh having a predetermined shape such that the pieces are adapted for separate use for commercial purposes, these pieces being outlined in the most by links of a. metal different in its mechanical properties from the metals of which the links in the pieces are made, the i'iutlining links serving to connect the pieces to each other and to the remaidcr of the fabric.

23. A method of producing a piece of link mesh fabric of predeterminedshape adapted for separate use, which comprises forming a strip of mesh of which the piece is a component; part, and during the formation of this strip inserting in it along the outline of the said piece links which connect the piece to the ren'iainder of the strip and ditl'er from those of which the piece is made.

4'. A method of producing a piece of link mesh fabric of predetermined shape adapted for separate use, which comprises forming a strip of mesh of interengaging links and during the formation of the strip inserting mesh fabric of predetermined shape adapted for separate use, which comprises formin a strip of mesh of interengaging links and during the formation of the strip inserting in it along the outline of the piece links of a material having mechanical properties different from those of the material of which the remaining links in the strip are made, the said difi'erent links connecting the piece to the remainder of the strip.

6. A method of producing a piece of link mesh fabric of predetermined shape suitable for separate use, which comprises forming a strip of mesh of interengaging links of which the piece is a component part, during the formation of the strip inserting in it along the. outline of the piece links which diii'er from the links in the remainder of the strip and connect the piece to the remainder of the strip, and then removing these outlining links to free the piece from the strip.

7 A method of producing a piece of link mesh fabric of predetermined shape suitable for separate use, which comprises forming a strip of mesh of interengaging links of which the piece is a com poncnt part, inserting in the strip, during its formation, links of a material different from that of which the other links in the strip are made, the said, ditierent links being inserted along the outline of the piece and connecting the piece to the remainder of the st-ri 'i, and then subjecting the stri of mesh to force applied so as to )ermit the ready removal of the outlining links, thereby separating the piece from the remainder of the strip.

8. A strip of link mesh fabric composed principally of pieces of mesh having a predetermined shape such that the pieces are adapted for separate use for commercial purposes, these pieces being outlines in the mesh by links of a metal, more pliable than the metal of which the links in the pieces 7 are made, the outlining links serving to connect the said pieces of mesh to each other and to the remainder of the fabric.

9. A strip of link mesh fabric comprising a. plurality of similar pieces of mesh each comprising a plurality of links, these several pieces of mesh being united by links of metal softer than thatot' which the links in. the pieces of mesh are made.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

OSCAR SODERSTROM. 

